Chicken stew

This African dish is delicious, full of natural ingredients. When cooking, it is always good to maintain a natural taste.

Ingredients

Onions (One)

Tomatoes (2 fresh ones)

500g of chicken (thighs and legs)

Peanut butter

Spices (curry powder, cinnamon, chilli)

Fresh baby green leaves (lots)

Spicing up a dish brings out all the flavours. In a pan add half a table spoon of oil and heat up. Then add the chopped onions. Cook a little bit and then add a pinch of chilli powder/ fresh green chilli. Add the fresh chopped tomatoes, and then add a table spoon of curry powder.  After stirring for 5 min, add the chicken and magi cube/chicken stock cube. Cook for 10 min, and plz don’t forget that special salt. I love cinnamon, so add a table spoon of that special ingredient. You can say it sounds like Mediterranean with an African twist. I couldn’t agree more.

Moving on, now it is simmering and you can smell all those flavours flying through.  Add 500ml of water.  Hang on, don’t get too excited, and forget that special ingredient (peanut butter).  Add in 3 or 4 table spoons of peanut butter; boil at low temperature for another 10 min.  As you watch the transformation, add the last one but not least – the spinach.

You can ask; what is it with you and the green bits? C’mon who doesn’t like a green colour? Seriously, cook for another 5 min before you ruin the dish. Please have it with pasta or rice. You know the saying, ‘two heads are better than one’.

 

Pasta Dish

Pasta dishes are easy to make, and all you have to do is to play around with different ingredients.

Ingredients:

Onions (1)

2 cloves of garlic

Carrots

Aubergine (whole)

Mince meat (500g)

Fresh tomatoes (3)

Pasta tomato sauce (whole)

This is a simple tasty dish with no strings attached.  In a pan heat a table spoon of cooking oil.  Add chopped onions, garlic, and half a tea spoon of chilli powder, add chopped carrots, big chops of aubergines and cook for 15 min.

Add the mince, a table spoon of curry powder and another table spoon of all spice powder. Then add the chopped tomatoes, and cook for 10 min.  By this time you can tell all the ingredients are joined in harmony, and the smell is letting you know all is well.

What do you do? Something is telling you, it needs water.  So add that in, but to avoid flooding only 300 ml is required.  After that salt is knocking on the door, add it in to avoid misery.  And now the pasta source has to be last but not least.

Now cook for another 10 min.  Stop! You forgot something, the boss of ingredients. (Pasta) cook it slightly  and separately with a pinch of salt.  After this the next bit is marriage, so mix the drained pasta into the sauce you cooked earlier.  Cook for 10 min for all the ingredients to mingle with a smile.

Enjoy…

 

Fish pie

I like trying dishes from different cultures, so this one takes me to Europe.

Ingredients

500g of potatoes, cut into chunks; 2 onions; a table spoon of butter; 300ml of semi-skimmed milk; I lemon; 60g of Plain flour; I tbsp of parsley, chopped; 750 g of fish (haddock)

After peeling and boiling the potatoes in the pan with a pinch of salt, and making sure there are tender, drain the potatoes and add in a knob of butter and 50 ml of the milk.  Add the lemon and black pepper to give it a kick.  Now mash it until soft and set it aside.

Meanwhile in a separate pan, add 250 m of milk.  Add flour and a knob of butter, cook for 2 min while stirring to create a smooth white sauce.  And then add in chopped green onions.  Aha, don’t forget a tiny pinch of salt.

In a medium pie dish, put the chunks of haddock, with the sauce you made earlier and top it up with a mash.  Now bake for 30 min, in the oven gas 4.

Enjoy..

 

Rice and beans

Ingredients

Rice

Rose coco beans

Pork

Coriander

Onions

This Caribbean dish with a twist tastes deliciously healthy.

Cook 2 cups of beans first until soft with a pinch of salt; then put side.

In the pan heat a table spoon of oil, and then add small pieces of seasoned pork. (Caribbean jerk seasoning, Gram masala – all spice powder, curry powder)

After frying the seasoned pork with the onions for 30m until soft and brown, add a pinch of salt. Take the cooked pieces and put in a separate bowl. In the remaining liquid, add one whole chopped onion and fry for 4 min. Then add a table spoon of cinnamon powder to give it a twist. Next add the beans and its juices according to your requirement.

Then mix a table spoon of corn flour with half a cup of water, and  add the contents to the bean stew to thicken the sauce.

After cooking the stew for 10min, add fresh coriander, cook for another 2 min.

When it comes to cooking rice, as usual, the measurements are vital, two cups of water to one cup of rice.

There you have it.

Enjoy…

 

Meat Lentil stew with tortillas/chapatti

Ingredients

500 g meat/oxtail

100g brown lentil

Onions

2 fresh tomatoes

Spices (curry, masala powder, cinnamon)

This is one of my favourite dishes; so delicious and easy to cook. In this dish I used beef brisket, but you can also use oxtail.

In pan with a litre of water, add the beef pieces, chopped onions and tomatoes, then add a table spoon of curry powder, mixed masala powder, and cinnamon powder. Oops! nearly forgot the special salt.

After cooking for 30min,  add the lentil seeds. Cook for another 40min until the meat is tender. I normally add  half a tea spoon of chill powder to give that extra kick, but it is optional.

I made chapatti, which is similar to tortilla. With chapattis; I mixed a table spoon of butter, with 500g of plain flour, a small cup of water, a spoon of mashed onions, and a pinch of salt, to make soft dough.  Next make small round balls of dough, of which you roll individually to make chapattis.

To avoid it sticking to your hands use the flour powder to roll it, and afterwards to fry it in a pan with  little oil.

There you have it.  Enjoy…

Fish stew

Ingredients; Fresh fish, tilapia (2); Onions; Fresh tomatoes (3); Spices – curry, masala powder, cinnamon.

Fish curry is delicious with rice.

In the pan heat a table spoon of oil, and then add chopped onions with a half teaspoon of red chilli powder. After frying for 3 min, add a table spoon of the Gram masala – all spice powder, curry powder and cinnamon.

After all the spices have mingled, and the smell is letting you know all is well, you add in the chopped tomatoes.  After cooking until the tomatoes are soft, add in the fish and some salt.  I normally use tilapia, but if you prefer another type, no problem.  Next add in half a litre of water, cook for 10 min.

To thicken the sauce; mix a table spoon of very fine corn flour with two table spoons of water in a separate cup. Then add the mixture to the fish sauce, and cook for another 10 min. Last but not least, add in fresh coriander to bring out all those flavours.  Serve with rice and enjoy…

Potato Salad

Ingredients: Potatoes, Onions, Thyme

This dish is simple and tasty, especially if you’re tired and don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen.

Cook small diced pototoes in a pan with a pinch of salt. When the potatoes are nearly done add some thyme.  After it is done drain the water and put aside.

In the meantime, chop the whole onion, and add to the potatoes.   Then add a knob of butter and mix everything together.  Cover it and the potatoes will cook the onions, giving it that full onion flavour.

Enjoy..